Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar condemned the latest Indian Supreme Court ruling, calling it a politically motivated tool to entrench Indian unlawful occupation, and reaffirmed Pakistan’s moral, political, and diplomatic support for the people of Kashmir on Thursday. In his speech to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (AJK LA) during a special session, the prime minister demanded that India stop solidifying its occupation, withdraw its illegal unilateral acts from August 5, 2019, and refrain from altering the disputed territory’s demographics. Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar of the Assembly of AJK led the meeting, which was also attended by Assembly members and Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq of AJK. PM Kakar further emphasised that India should remove emergency rules, remove a significant military presence, stop violating human rights in Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), and grant unrestricted access to international media and UN agencies. The prime minister, who addressed the AJK Legislative Assembly as the first caretaker prime minister ever, honoured the martyrs of the Kashmir movement as well as those who had lost loved ones as a result of Indian ceasefire breaches and those who lived near the Line of Control. He urged the people of Kashmir to receive their just rights and declared that Pakistan would support them in their fight. “The jugular vein of Pakistan is Kashmir. Without Kashmir, Pakistan cannot truly be called such. There is a special kinship between the people of Pakistan and Kashmir.
The Foreign Office denied on Thursday that the government was in talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), citing recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan as evidence that the accusations were false. “No talks are being held between Pakistan and the TTP in any third country,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated during the weekly media briefing. The announcement coincides with the declaration made earlier this week by acting prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, who demanded an unconditional surrender from terrorist groups and said that talks would not take place. “There will be no more tolerance from the state for the terrorists who killed innocent civilians through violence,” Kakar declared. He declared, “There should be no question about the state’s stance against terrorists.”
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif expressed confidence that the public will support his party in the next general elections after he gained significant victory from courts in his first televised “address to the nation” following his four years of exile. In a taped statement that was played on television networks on Thursday, the former three-time prime minister expressed his hope that the country would declare its verdicts on February 8, 2024, and that the penalties imposed against it would be lifted. Since returning to Pakistan in October following a four-year self-exile in London, Nawaz has repeatedly emphasised the need to hold those responsible for the overthrow of his government in 2017 accountable, arguing that they not only punished him and his family but also Pakistan. The former premier spoke to his followers for the first time since he was cleared of all charges of significant corruption. “My people, you don’t need to reach out to any court as you yourself are the judge,” he declared. The three-time prime minister is considering a fourth term in office after winning graft appeals, which helped his chances of becoming the nation’s next prime minister. In separate verdicts earlier this week and last month, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reversed Nawaz’s convictions in the Al Azizia Steel Mills corruption case and the Avenfield case, respectively. One of the final significant obstacles was eliminated on Tuesday with the top court’s most recent relief.
Pakistan is dedicated to the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which took place in Thailand last month, according to Caretaker Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Muhammad Sami Saeed on Thursday. Speaking at the launch event for two reports that the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had jointly compiled, the minister stated, “We are committed to the population conference agenda and our delegation to the regional conference made a bit of contribution in it.” The minister expressed gratitude for the research conducted by the PIDE and UNFPA experts and noted that Pakistan was the first country in the area to undertake such an endeavour, stating that it would be highly beneficial for scholars, policymakers, and academics.
Lahore: On Thursday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) charged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was planning a plot to postpone the general elections scheduled for February 8. Shehbaz Sharif, the president of the PML-N, claimed in a statement on Thursday that the PTI was planning to postpone the general elections, which were supposed to take place on February 8 of next year. The PML-N president referred to the PTI’s lawsuit in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging the appointment of district returning officers (DROs) from bureaucracy and said the plea amounted to undermining the right of people to be represented. “The High Court petition filed by the PTI is a scheme to evade the elections. Similar to cypher, PTI is planning a plot to rig the federal elections scheduled for February 8. He declared, “As usual, the PTI is acting hypocritically and with a double standard in this situation. The former prime minister added that the PTI was openly calling for elections to be held on time while submitting court cases to delay the voting. Even during the 2018 elections, DRO responsibilities were handled by bureaucracy. The PTI then did not object to bureaucratic DROs carrying out their duties,” he added, adding that the PTI would bear responsibility if the elections scheduled for February 8, 2024 were postponed. According to Shehbaz, the PTI has taken varying positions on the cypher scandal both in the public eye and throughout the inquiry. “[…] now the PTI has adopted the same hypocrisy elections.”...
On Thursday, the Supreme Court gave former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Azizi Siddiqui instructions to name General Faiz Hamid, the former head of spying, and other people in the appeal against his termination. The appeal of the former judge’s request against his dismissal by the Supreme Judicial Council was taken up by the highest court earlier today. The petitioner was given a day by the court to designate the former general and additional candidates. The plea was heard by a five-member bench chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and consisting of Justices Amin-ud-Din Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Irfan Saadat Khan. Live broadcasts of the proceedings were available on the website and YouTube channel of the Supreme Court.
Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, the senior vice president of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), was arrested by police on Thursday outside the Lahore High Court (LHC), according to sources who spoke to the media. His party also confirmed the news. According to police sources, Marwat was taken into custody at the GPO Chowk on the basis of Section 3 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. According to the reports, the PTI leader was taken to an undisclosed place following his apprehension. The party responded by saying that Marwat’s detention demonstrates how “worried” the powerful were. It also demonstrates lawlessness. Without specifying who “they” meant, PTI stated in a statement that “the reason behind these unconstitutional, unlawful acts is that they want to run from elections.”
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council called for all nations to work with Pakistan to apprehend those involved for the “reprehensible” act, denouncing the terrorist attack in the Dera Ismail Khan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “in the strongest terms.” In a press release, Ecuador’s Jose de la Gasca, the 15-member Council President for December, said, “The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and the Government of Pakistan, and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.” Numerous people were hurt in the attack, including over 37 injured and at least 23 security men who died as martyrs.
During the UN special rapporteur’s interview with Al Jazeera, she said that the number of women and children killed by Israeli bombing in Gaza “has surpassed anything we have seen in recent conflicts.” The interview included violence against women and girls. Those working in Gaza, she told Al Jazeera, have “run out of words to describe the unspeakable level of suffering and horrors.” According to her, living as a Palestinian woman or child has essentially meant losing all sense of humanity, safety, dignity, or other special considerations that are usually given to them in times of peace or conflict. Over 16,000 people are reported to have perished in Gaza in just two months, with 115 children dying on average each day.
In a 5-1 majority decision on Wednesday, the six-member Supreme Court bench conditionally postponed its unanimous decision from October 23 that declared the 103 civilians’ military trials unconstitutional until after a final decision. The verdict said that the military trials of 103 civilians for their alleged involvement in attacks on army sites during the protests that followed ex-primier Imran Khan’s detention on May 9 would continue. The order was made on a pair of intra-court appeals (ICAs) challenging its prior ruling. A five-member Supreme Court bench, including Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Ayesha Malik, issued a highly acclaimed decision in which they ruled that the trial of 103 civilians in military courts was unconstitutional.
Recent Comments